Communication station protector connectors must be so designed and implemented as to eliminate risks of fire, shock, or injury to persons, and, especially, must be able to protect the connections from large voltage and current surges such as are caused by lightning. Inasmuch as most such connectors are located out of doors, the electrical connectors as nearly as possible must be immune to moisture from rain, heavy fog, flooding, or the like.
In terminal blocks, wherein several telephone subscriber circuits are connected, or in individual customer connectors, connections are generally made by means of binding posts. In the field, the technician must first strip the wires to be connected, then wrap them around the binding post, after which they are secured, generally by means of one or more nuts. Obviously, when used out of doors, such an arrangement is suscessible to the deleterious physical and electrical effects of moisture, even when the connector is contained in a housing. Additionally, from an economic standpoint, stripping and binding the wires is time consuming and requires a measure of skill on the part of the installer, all of which adds to the cost of the installations.
There are, in the prior art, numerous arrangements for making multiple connections among wires while affording at least some measure of protection from the elements. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,018 of Afflerbaugh et al., there is shown a solderless insulation displacement connector (IDC) in which the assembled connector and connected wires is encapsulated with soft plastic material such as, for example, a silicone grease, which protects the connections from atmospheric effects. The wires to be connected are inserted into the side of the connector and a vertically movable connecting member having slots therein for cutting through (or displacing) the insulation on the wires being connected is driven down into contact with the wires by a cap member which is pushed down by the installer and remains gripped in the down position. The encapsulation grease is then introduced.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,437 of Levy, there is shown an electrical conductor block for connecting, by means of insulation displacement, a multiconductor cable to a plurality of drop wires. The block comprises a plurality of modules, each of which comprises one or more fixed insulation displacing contact elements which engage the drop wires inserted into the module from the side thereof. The wires are forced down into engagement with the contact elements by means of a bolt which, when turned drives a cap containing the wires down, forcing the wires into slots in the contact element. The region of the contacts is filled with a sealing agent for environmental protection. In the Levy arrangement, the wires of the cable are wrapped around terminals which are integral with the contact element. An arrangement quite similar to that of Levy is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,278 of Waas et al. which, however, uses an insulation displacement member for connecting to the cable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,633 of Lacoste there is shown a connector arrangement similar to the connector module of Levy, although somewhat more simple, wherein the wires to be connected are inserted from the side and the IDC slotted plate is forced against the wires by a slotted, threaded knob which is screwed onto a projecting lug. An insulating gel fills the free space within the connector.
In all of the foregoing arrangements, the wires to be connected are inserted into the connector from the side thereof, which presupposes that there is ample lateral space to make the insertion. This is not always the case, however. Connector arrangements of the type shown in the Levy and Waas et al. patents are also quite bulky. It is also possible in most of these arrangements to drive the slotted IDC member too far into the wire, thereby giving rise to the possibility of damaging or even severing the wire. Thus, the technician or installer must exercise a degree of skill in making the connection.
In most of the foregoing devices, some sort of insulating gel is inserted after the assembly has been made. This too requires some skill on the part of the installer as well as requiring him to carry a supply of such insulating material in his tool kit.
While none of the aforementioned patents show the use of a surge protector, such protectors are common and, where required, are added as a separate adjunct. Thus, a gas discharge tube, for example, must be connected by some means to the wires being connected to shunt the connection to ground in the event of a high voltage or current surge.